Page 286 of Sigils & Spells

A hot finger slid along my shoulder, down to my chest and between my breasts and tapped.

“You want my soul?” I asked. “Fucking demons.”

They laughed again. The cowboy, that is what I was envisioning him as, or maybe actually seeing him as, said, “Pretty sure you gave that over the moment Finley dropped that tongue in you.”

I balked, but couldn’t deny it. That tap happened again, and I asked around a snort of a laugh, “What? My chest? My lungs?” That made sense. Finley had come up and out of my lungs.

“Move.” Finley. I had a name for the voice. I had a large figure settling over me, rubbing an equally proportionate cock along my inner thigh. His lips to mine. He tasted like me, like… something. Teeth nipped at my lower lip and pricked. He sucked, gently, and I sighed, rolled my hips involuntarily up. He moved to whisper in my ear, “Your heart.”

Oh. Well. That was something to ask for when I had only seen red eyes and knew he could eat pussy like a champ. I didn’t even know the other two except they had well-designed genitals. Couldn’t they be like typical demons and ask for my soul?

“Uh.” I licked my lower lip and realized there was the tang of blood. Blood. “Um.”

“She’s denying you,” Cowboy said and a moment later, he seemed to disappear. I couldn’t feel his presence.

“Just take it. If you don’t. I will.” Then the other was gone.

I looked into those glowing red eyes and could feel my heart thumping so hard and loud. My blood seemed to rush all at once toward that organ. I choked out a word, “Finley.”

I couldn’t see the eyes anymore. Then I could. They were so dark now. “You are mine.”

A shift of hips and I was really glad he did all that tongue work because as much as I had been trying to get more a moment ago, I was totally aware of how much he had to give now. I cried out in a mix of pain, pleasure, something. I wasn’t really sure, but his seduction was over, and I began to accept the fear that I should have been feeling from the start, only it had been blocked, soothed.

The prick of teeth, no, fangs at my shoulder reminded me that people had been found dead in this house within twenty-four hours of living here since the crazy doctor lady died. My mind began to collapse in on itself, find a place to hide, like I did when I was a kid. When I tried not to hear what my mother was doing with the men in the next room. When I tried not to hear what they were doing with other people.

I was a kid, not deaf. They paid the bills with performances and I…stayed in my room and talked to my imaginary friends. Well, if that house or apartment had some for me to hang out with.

Which is why it was odd when, a moment later, I found a place in my head that was…home. Here. It was this house. A hand outstretched at the door, pulled me through it and into powerful arms where I was twirled and then kissed before he let me go.

I gasped. A young man in a uniform, a very old style of uniform, stood before me. I went to him easily. We spun around and when he put me on my feet again; we were in this bedroom. He said, “I’m home.”

“Finally!” I announced. He began kissing me and the next thing I knew, I was in this bed, and we were—

“Stop it!” I shouted and pushed at his shoulder, only there was nothing to push at, no one there to push.

I reached for my shoulder, my neck. Nothing. I touched my shirt and shorts, both in place. I reached between my legs and realized I had been turned on, but found no evidence of what happened other than the memory.

It was morning! Did I even sleep? Was that all a dream?

I looked around the room and said, “Well. I’m alive, right? That’s a start.”

“For now.” The warning tone was undeniable.

My eyes went wide at that voice. Not Finley. Not Cowboy. Not Soft Hands. Not a man at all.

I asked aloud, “Who are you?”

“Someone you can never be, no matter how much they might want you to.” Smug and arrogant.

“Well, fuck you too, lady.” I pushed out of bed and decided she was right. First order of business. Get rid of any female clothes in this house.

CHAPTER3

Getting ridof the female presence before me was a bit problematic because some of this shit was really awesome. I looked at the silk gown from that drawer and knew I couldn’t keep it even if I wanted to. “I can buy a gown of my own.”

Silence.

No one was talking to me, and I didn’t wantherto talk to me for damn sure. I would start work on Monday. I needed to live to see the sunset this evening and at least two more. Then, I could worry about sexy night things.

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